Need You Now
by Dreaming of Words
Summary: They were the only thing the other needed, they just didn't know it yet. Main: Puckleberry, Quartie , Brittana, and Fina. Mentions of Finchel, Quick, Tartie.
1. Almost Lover

Hey everybody! It's Kay here, just checking in. This is one of my earlier pieces of writing… I like to think that I've progressed a lot since this, but reviews are always welcome! Just for reference, I don't own anything, though it would be amazing if I did. The song is "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy, if you want to listen.

**Chapter 1: Almost Lover**

Life almost went back to normal after Sectionals. Kurt and Mercedes were still the Fashionable Duo with Santana an honorary member, and Brittany and Santana were still Cheerios, but they accepted and talked to everyone more. Tina and Artie were still together, unsurprisingly, also. But one thing definitely had changed. Glee had two new power couples and one definite friendship. Rachel and Finn had finally gotten back together and, to everyone's surprise, so had Puck and Quinn. The two couples had formed a tentative truce following Sectionals, all because of Puck and Rachel's friendship.

No one saw that one coming; they were completely blindsided. But as they though it over more, it made complete sense. In the immediate fallout after Babygate burst, Rachel had helped Puck after he was punched by Finn and hadn't gone straight to check on her now-boyfriend. And when the rest of the club ostracized her for spilling the beans, Puck never blamed her or pushed her away. Even after the "Run, Joey, Run" debacle, Puck took it in good stride and even joked about it afterward while the other two boys flew off the handle.

But one often wondered if there wasn't something more there. Well, at least Tina wondered. The rest just accepted it and didn't allow it a second thought, but that's not the way Tina operates. She often wondered, after the fated week of Puckleberry, if there were any true feelings buried beneath the surface. So, Tina began to observe.

Rachel and Finn were the first couple she observed. Tina could definitely see the attraction and love from Finn, but Rachel was harder to decipher. Some days, she was so full of love for Finn that it was awkward to watch. But other days, she seemed to simply like him and tolerate his attention. It was those days that convinced Tina that Rachel wasn't in it 100%. Not that she'd ever tell anyone that, of course.

Next, Tina watched Puck and Quinn. Tina could easily see Quinn's attraction to Puck growing every day, even when Puck seemed to try her patience. Puck on the other hand, doted on Quinn like the princess she believed herself to be. But Tina knew from experience, that wasn't love.

Finally, Tina observed Puck and Rachel and she could only think of one word to describe them together: genuine. There was no scandal, no intrigue, in their friendship. They were simply Noah and Rachel. They showed each other the sides of themselves that no one has ever seen before. Puck became Noah around Rachel, his softer, less aggressive and less horny side, and Rachel* became simply Rachel, a girl with so much talent and as many insecurities to match. They toned each other down and brought out the best in each other. And that, Tina knew, was love, even if they hadn't figured it out yet.

One day during her free period, Tina was walking past the auditorium when she heard the soft plink of piano keys as they formed a tentative and sad melody. Tina froze for a moment, listening to the hauntingly beautiful melody when a voice mixed in.

"**Your fingertips across my skin,**

**The palm trees swaying in the wind,**

**Images…"**

the voice sang, and Tina felt like she was intruding on a private moment, but she couldn't bear to stop listening. She slipped into the auditorium and sat in the shadows to not interrupt the lasting atmosphere.

"**You sang me Spanish lullabies,**

**The sweetest sadness in your eyes,**

**Clever trick…"**

the voice continued and Tina looked up in shock and realization as she figured out that Rachel Berry was the vocalist.

"**Well, I never want to see you unhappy.**

**I thought you'd want the same for me…"**

Rachel's voice paused for a split second, as if composing herself, before she continued,

"**Goodbye my almost lover;**

**Goodbye my hopeless dream. **

**I'm trying not to think about you…**

**Can't you just let me be?**

**So long my luckless romance,**

**My back is turned on you.**

**I should've known that you'd bring me heartache,**

**Almost lovers always do…"**

Tina wondered briefly if this was one of the songs Rachel had written following her messy break-up with Jesse St. James, star of Vocal Adrenaline, but her musings were put to rest as soon as she heard the next lines.

"**We walked along a crowded street,**

**You took my hand and danced with me.**

**Images…"**

Tina remembered that incident quite clearly, and Mr. St. James was not even a blip on the radar at that moment in time. She remembered how she was walking down the halls of William McKinley High School with Artie one day when she saw Puck and Rachel walking together down the same hallway in the opposite direction during what is now known as the Puckleberry interlude. Suddenly, Puck pulled Rachel in to a sloppy ballroom hold and proceeded to dance with her in the middle of the hallway where everyone could see. And Tina couldn't remember a time when Rachel's laugh was less forced and her smile shone quite as brightly.

"**And when you left you kissed my lips,**

**And told me that you'd never ever forget these images.**

**No…"**

Once again, Rachel voice paused, Tina thought that it was to compose herself again, and then her voice restarted just the same as it was before.

"**Well, I never want to see you unhappy.**

**I thought you'd want the same for me…**

**Goodbye my almost lover;**

**Goodbye my hopeless dream.**

**I'm trying not to think about you.**

**Can't you just let me be?"**

Rachel's voice was begging now, emotion overflowing from every note.

"**So long my luckless romance.**

**My back is turned on you.**

**I should've known that you'd bring me heartache.**

**Almost lovers always do…"**

Tina felt tears spring to her own eyes as she listened to the sadness and pain that colored every lyric that passed Rachel's lips.

"**I cannot go to the ocean,**

**I cannot drive the streets at night,**

**I cannot wake up in the morning without you on my mind.**

**So now you're gone and I'm haunted,**

**And I bet you are just fine…**

**Did I make it that easy to walk right in and out of my life?"**

Tina stifled a sob as Rachel continued more softly, trying to rein in her emotions.

"**Goodbye my almost lover…**

**Goodbye my hopeless dream…**

**I'm trying not to think about you."**

Rachel seemed to give up on trying to stifle her emotions and pushed them into her words full force.

"**Can't you just let me be?**

**So long my luckless romance;**

**My back is turned on you.**

**I should've known that you'd bring me heartache.**

**Almost lovers always do…"**

Tina wept silently as Rachel finally released her emotions, sobbing into her arms. Tina quickly slipped out of the auditorium making her way to the girls' bathroom. She stared into the mirror and wiped the sticky tear marks from her cheeks before a steely determination entered her eyes. She knew now how Rachel felt about Puck and if Puck happened to feel the same way? Tina was hell-bent on getting them together, one way or another.


	2. Somebody's Eyes

_Hey everybody! I am so sorry for the extremely long wait. My life has been really hectic lately and I haven't had much time at all. Thank you so much for all the favorites! I would also love it a lot if you left me a review. I wrote this story a while ago, so it's nice to hear what people think of the story and if I need to make any changes. I'll probably update this story once more today and then we'll see how it goes from there. Thank you and enjoy. ~Dreaming of Words_

**Chapter 2: Somebody's Eyes**

To say that Artie was thrilled about her new "pet project" was a blatant lie. He was much, much less than thrilled.

"What do you think you're trying to do, T? By figuring out if Rachel and Puck are perfect together, you're going to break up two happy relationships and possibly catch two or more hearts in the crossfire," Artie shouted, his anger making the empty choir room crackle with rage.

"And what's to lose if Rachel and Puck are perfect together, Artie?" Tina yelled, her voice easily matching Artie's in decibel. "We all know how perfect Finn and Quinn were in the past. They can try again! And if it doesn't work out, there are plenty of other people in this school that they could go out with!"

Artie's eyes narrowed menacingly as his blood boiled. "I'm sure that you'd love to give Finn a try, huh T? You've probably been waiting for an opportunity like this, an opportunity to open your legs for Finn," Artie spat and Tina slapped him hard across the cheek.

Artie looked up at her in shock and began to apologize, "I didn't mean it, T, I should-" Tina cut him off with a hard look, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"I have tolerated a lot from you, Artie, but I won't deal with it, or you, anymore," she growled lowly. Artie swallowed thickly, her voice heavy with promise. "I am no slut, Artie; I'm not Santana. I am not the type of person who would let any random passerby that was hot have a go. Have I ever showed an interest in Finn while we were together? Did I ever once act like I was going to leave you for him? I don't even talk to him outside of Glee and I can count on one hand how many times I have talked to him during it! And before you say another word, I don't want to hear it."

Silence reigned as Tina stared steadily at Artie, her eyes steely. "Take a look in the mirror, Artie. Don't accuse me and say that I've been waiting for Finn when you're the one who would flip if Quinn even so much as looked your way," she murmured, the ice in her tone easily chilling him to the bone.

Artie sat there silently, unable to combat any of her words. They stung him, the truth hurting him in ways he hadn't thought possible. When Tina turned her back to him and began to walk away, he didn't have the heart to call her back. He had known their relationship was damaged; he would be the first one to admit that he still hadn't forgiven Tina for the fake stuttering, but he hadn't thought that they had become quite so estranged from one another. He hadn't thought that they had grown so far apart that the damage was irreparable. So he just watched her walk away.

Tina paused at the doorjamb, her nails biting into her palms hard enough to draw blood. "I loved you, Artie," she stated, her words mirroring Jesse St. James's when he had broken Rachel's heart and egged her in the parking lot.

He watched her hair fan behind her as she exited the room, the blue streaks in her hair reminding him of sadness and broken promises. He stared into space, the emptiness of the room pressing in on him, as he whispered, "And I loved you, Tina. I'm sorry."

As he rolled out of the room, he passed a newly non-pregnant Quinn Fabray humming to herself. He stayed back, simply watching her exchange her books at her locker. As she slammed the locker door, she put words to the song she was humming. "Somebody's eyes are watching," she sang quietly. "Somebody's eyes are seeing you come and go. Somebody's out there waiting for the show. You've got no disguise from somebody's eyes."

Artie kept watching her as she exited the school and felt the lyrics she had sung sting him just as deeply as Tina's words had. Artie knew that he wasn't truthful with Tina, and that's probably why her words hurt so much. He hadn't been real with her; he hadn't been the real Artie. And she had seen it, she had been watching. With a sigh, he turned and rolled down the handicap ramp and into the parking lot where his dad was waiting to pick him up. He turned back towards the school and smiled bitterly. "You've got no disguise from somebody's eyes," he sang quietly, then entered his dad's car and drove away.


	3. Fall For You

_Here's the second chapter for today! Rereading what I wrote, I can't believe that I forgot about this story. I am slowly falling in love with it all over again. Please enjoy! ~Dreaming of Words_

**Chapter 3: Fall For You **

Tina found it mildly ironic that in the process of finding out if her two friends were perfect for each other, she discovered that the boy she thought was her soul mate wasn't right for her. It stung, more than she was willing to acknowledge or admit. She didn't want to tell anyone, but when she and Artie broke up, she still felt like she was able to breathe. The world didn't crash down around her ears and she could still live. All she felt was a slight pain, then the stinging of a freshly opened cut. And Tina knew instinctively that her heart was healing itself, but she wasn't prepared for the pain. It stung, the jagged edges of the wound cutting her as she kept living.

She hadn't noticed where she had been walking until she heard the soft strumming of a guitar. She immediately froze where she stood, taking in her surroundings. A few tense moments later, she realized that she was standing in the science wing and breathed a sigh of relief. Tina shook her head, believing the guitar to be a figment of her imagination, when she suddenly heard it again. She glanced in the doorway to see Noah Puckerman sitting on a stool in the center of an empty classroom with pictures scattered all around him on the floor. Tina didn't even have to look at them to know that they were pictures of Puck and Rachel dating from back when they were young all the way to now.

The zipper of her coat clanged against the metal door frame and Puck looked up startled, the clink a sudden gunshot amidst the silence. Hardly daring to breathe, Tina stood motionless just outside the partially open door. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest as she prayed that Puck would not see her. She heard his deep voice murmur something before absently plucking at the strings of his guitar. Tina carefully backed away from the door and sat down just outside it, peeking through the sliver that was open. Concealed in the shadows, she waited for something, anything. She waited as Puck continued to play random notes and just as she was about to leave, Tina heard him begin to sing, his deep baritone filling up the room.

"**The best thing 'bout tonight's that we're not fighting.**

**Could it be that we have been this way before?**

**I know you don't think that I am trying…**

**I know you're wearing thin down to the core…"**

Tina could practically feel her heart break at the emotion in his words; how much conviction he put into what he was singing. She couldn't help but think about Artie and how he changed over the course of their relationship. Once doting and loving, at the end he seemed to barely tolerate her and to lose patience with her so much more easily than he had in the beginning. It was like he was constantly trying to pick fights, to push her away from him…

"**But hold your breath,**

**Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,**

**Over again, don't make me change my mind."**

Puck caught sight of an older picture amidst the chaos of photographs on the floor right next to a more modern one. The first was of a gap-toothed Noah with his arm around the shoulders of a Rachel Berry wearing glasses. He remembered the day vividly. It was the day he proposed to her…

"Rachel?" five year old Noah Puckerman asked quietly. "Yes, Noah, what is it?" Rachel answered in her singsong voice and turned around to be face to face with Noah holding a ring he had made in art class that day. It was green with red and yellow dry spaghetti shells on it, but it looked perfect to Rachel. "When we get older, Rachel, will you marry me? Please?" Noah had proposed, holding his prized ring out in front of him. Rachel grinned and pushed her glasses up on her nose. "O'course I will, Noah! Thank you! But, if I have to wear your ring, you've got to wear this bracelet, that way we know that we'll be together forever!"

Puck smiled coming out of the memory, fingering the bracelet that he wore. It wasn't the same bracelet Rachel had given all those years ago, he had grown out of that one quite quickly, but it was another, larger one with some of the bracelet she had given him on it.

"**Or I won't live to see another day,**

**I swear it's true…**

**Because a girl like you is impossible to find,**

**You're impossible to find."**

Later that year, Puck had met Finn Hudson and they quickly became best friends. He didn't hang out with Rachel anymore, but still wore the bracelet she had given him, remembering the fun times they had had together and the promise they had made each other. He and Finn grew up together after that and became more like brothers than best friends and Rachel faded into the background of Puck's subconscious. As time passed, he forgot why he wore the bracelet, but knew that he should never take it off. So he didn't, just changed it and made it bigger to fit him as the years passed and forgot the glasses wearing, midget best friend that he had spent all of his time with before Finn.

"**This is not what I intended…**

**I always swore to you I'd never fall apart.**

**You always thought that I was stronger…"**

Puck was drawn into a more recent memory of the two of them, one from when they had gone out for a week. She was shocked to see that he still wore the bracelet, but was so happy that he still wore it even if he didn't remember why or who gave it to him. And much to everyone's surprise, he had told her that he was Quinn's baby daddy. Everyone had expected him to lie, but he knew that Rachel would appreciate the truth, even when it hurt her. When he told her she was so disappointed… He had never known what it was like to have someone be so proud of you. Having that trust and pride she had in him ripped away so suddenly was a scarring experience. She had looked at him with those sad brown eyes and whispered, "I thought you were stronger than that, Noah. I thought you were better than this…" He felt his heart shatter into millions of tiny pieces. He had so many things he had wanted to say to her, but instead he had made her swear to tell no one about what he had divulged to her. And she had looked at him with her sad brown eyes and kissed his forehead, whispering, "It's not mine to tell…"

"**I may have failed but I have loved you from the start,**

**Oh, but hold your breath…**

**Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,**

**Over again, don't make me change my mind,**

**Or I won't live to see another day,**

**I swear it's true…**

**Because a girl like you is impossible to find…"**

He felt hot tears run down his cheeks and he let them fall, he didn't care who saw him cry. Even if it wasn't a "badass" thing to do, this was Noah singing, not Puck, and he couldn't care less that he was crying over a broken heart. It hurt so bad, he didn't know what he would do with himself if he didn't let the pain out.

Tina heard his voice take on a pleading tone and she could almost imagine him pleading to a phantom Rachel. She knew it was Rachel he was singing about, there was no doubt about it, and Tina knew that she had a much better of chance of getting the two back together. She felt some tears fall as she heard the scratchiness of raw emotion in his voice.

"**It's impossible to breathe in so deep,**

**Breathe me in; I'm yours to keep,**

**And hold on to your words 'cause talk is cheap,**

**And remember me tonight when you're asleep…"**

Tina could practically hear the tears coat his voice and she felt tears running hot and fast down her own cheeks. She peeked inside the room and saw Puck staring at the pictures on the floor, lost in his own memories. A ghost of pain haunted his eyes and it hurt Tina to see how sad and haunted he was. His voice came out thin and spidery, a whisper of pure emotion as he began again.

"**Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you.**

**Over again, don't make me change my mind,**

**Or I won't live to see another day,**

**I swear it's true…**

**Because a girl like you is impossible to find…"**

Tina could feel all the pain and heartbreak Puck felt pushed into the song and she wished that Rachel was here to hear this. Tina had no doubt Noah loved her, and this song showed just how much.

"**Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you,**

**Over again, don't make me change my mind,**

**Or I won't live to see another day,**

**I swear it's true…**

**Because a girl like you is impossible to find,**

**You're impossible to find…"**

Tina snuck away as quickly and quietly as she could, the soft sound of sobs following her as she exited the science wing. All she could hear was Puck's voice ringing in her ears as she reentered the crowded hallways of the more populated side of McKinley. Her heart hurt for Puck and Rachel and how miserable they both were. They loved each other so much… It was almost too much for her to take. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Tina looked around with a new resolve strengthening her. She would help them find each other. A love like that deserved to grow, and Tina would help it no matter what.


	4. The End

_Hey there everybody! I'm really sorry about the late posting and all that, but my life has been entirely too hectic for my liking lately, and I'm floundering a bit under everything. Not to fear though, the world seems to have righted itself and everything will even out soon. For now, I hope you enjoy Chapter Four of Need You Now: The End. If you want to listen to the song, it's "The End" (acoustic) by McFly._

Chapter 4: The End

Most people thought Finn was stupid, but he really wasn't. Sure, the way he spoke and what he actually said led people to think so, but he closely observed interactions between people. It was how he knew that Rachel wasn't as in love with him as she claimed.

Tina knew that he knew, but she didn't want to say anything. He was hanging on by a thread as is and she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize his fragile happiness. She had felt her heart break when he had no one after Quinn, it was almost too much for her to bear. Tina had a soft heart, that she knew, but her heart break went deeper than that. She really felt for Finn, and Artie was right about one thing, she wished that Finn would just see her. But even so, that was no reason to not give Artie her everything. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't give him her whole heart when part of it belonged to Finn.

No one knew, but the main reason she always stuttered and blushed in Glee was because Finn was there and watching her. She was painfully shy because she wanted so much to impress him, it was like a physical ache when she saw him. But he was so wrapped up in Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez that he never spared a glance for the stutter-fly goth girl in Glee.

So when Tina actually found Finn, it wasn't a concerted effort to find him. On the contrary, she was trying so hard to avoid him that she ended up finding him. She had sprinted out the doors of William McKinley, drenched in cherry slushee. She had just taken solace underneath the bleachers when she heard a soft, masculine voice drift down to her from above.

"**Kicking off is the hardest part,**

**Nothing's certain at the start.**

**Letting go, so something can begin."**

Tina really had to strain to hear the grainy lyrics, and it was then she knew that someone was blasting his or her earbuds so loud that she could hear it, not that he or she was actually singing it. She crept up slowly and peeked through the gaps in the steps. She pushed a sticky strand of hair out of her eyes and took in the sight of a letterman jacket and moderately styled coffee brown hair. She let out a small gasp of surprise and retreated backwards into the darkness.

Her heart was beating like a jackhammer inside her chest and wiped her now sweaty palms on her sticky black skirt. She started taking deep breaths, not so loudly as to draw attention to her existence, but just enough to calm herself down. Once she had achieved this, she crept slowly closer again and barely caught the words.

"**Everybody knows the end;**

**When the curtain hits the floor.**

**Everybody knows the end;**

**Don't want to get there wishing that you'd given more.**

**It's not over till it's over,**

**So how do we begin,**

**When everybody knows the end?"**

She heard Finn sigh sadly and shift above her and Tina felt a tear slide down her sticky cheek. The song was so sad, even if she didn't know why Finn was listening to it. She leaned against one of the pillars beneath the bleachers, listening to the muted words coming from Finn's earbuds and forgetting the rest of the world.

Finn stared out over the football field, which was empty of all people, a rare thing. The music of McFly was blasting from his iPod, and he was willing the words to swallow him whole. He closed his eyes and thought, his brain jumping sporadically from one thing to the next. Finally, the one thing he stopped on was his relationship with Rachel. He didn't really know why they weren't together way before this, but he knew that he really liked her, like loved her status.

Finn was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the chorus once more and a sad smile broke over his face.

"**Everybody knows the end;**

**When the curtain hits the floor.**

**And everybody knows the end;**

**Don't want to get there wishing that you'd given more.**

**It's not over till it's over,**

**So how do we begin,**

**When everybody knows the end?"**

Even though he loved her, he knew they weren't going to last. Rachel was just… too good for him. And admitting that, even to himself, was way harder than it should have been. He knew she was in love with someone else, but he was too selfish, too damn selfish, to let her go. They were never meant to be together, simply to coexist. But his question was, if he knew they wouldn't last when they started, so why did he even try at all?

Finn opened his eyes as the song ended. Tears leaked from his eyes unbidden and he quickly wiped them away, looking around sheepishly to make sure no one saw him cry. He calmed as he stayed motionless, looking over the empty football field as the sun set in fiery hues on the horizon. He would never forget Rachel Berry. She was his first love, the first girl that got him to look beyond popularity and superficial beauty to see the beauty inside of people. She helped him to become a better person. And he would be forever grateful to her for that. But he couldn't keep her; she wasn't his to keep. She belonged in New York, taking on the City That Never Sleeps and making her dreams a reality.

He smiled ruefully and exhaled, allowing the ghost of Rachel Berry to leave him behind. No longer would he live in her shadow. It was time to let her go become who she was meant to be. It was time for him to learn to breathe again without her, no matter how much it hurt. And it was time for him to focus on himself and becoming a better man, the type of person who deserves someone great to love him back.

Finn stood up with a small smile on his lips and descended the stairs. He had a really good feeling that he would meet someone soon that would send him on a tailspin. He just knew that she would help him to become the man he was meant to be.

Tina smiled quietly as she tucked a lock of sticky hair behind her ear. Finn had decided to move on without Rachel, she just knew it. And she had a feeling that his life would be looking up.


End file.
